Above: Partial eclipse Drake Green-winged Teal or hybrid, Nels Hide, Marshside, Lancs - 22nd Oct 2009.This Teal took up most of my afternoon as it was mostly elusive for long periods amongst vegetation to the far left of Nels Hide. In scope views, the head pattern looked ok for GWT with pale border to the green on the head restricted to below the eye and there are stripes on either side of the fore-flanks, but do the stripes, if fully developed where visible, look a little narrow? As it is still in partial eclipse I feel it is better to err on the side of caution until fuller plumage is attained.
Now gone 17:00, I hurried to Old Hollow Farm, where I eventually located the 2 juv Long-billed Dowitchers on the saltmarsh pools, 1 juv Curlew Sand and 1-2 Spotted Redshank amongst numbers of Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Redshank Lapwing and Golden Plover. As usual, 2 Peregrine and a Merlin were in attendance on the wider marsh.
Final stop was Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB at dusk. Single Spotted Redshank and juv Ruff being the best birds in the available light.
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An update on the colour ringed Little Egret I have during visits to Hesketh Out Marsh RSPB on 12th & 20th Oct 2009.
It was the elder of a brood of 3 Little Egret ringed on 13th June 2009 at Porth Penrhyn, Bangor, and is the first report of this individual, but other birds from the 23 ringed on the same day have already made it to Northern Ireland and two birds on the Isle of Man. - Thanks to Richard Du Feu for pursuing details of this bird on my behalf and Tony Cross for details of the birds history thus far.I also saw a Little Egret with the same colour ring combination (left: White, Right: yellow) on Crossens Outer Marsh on the 18th, which may have been this individual but was too distant to read the lettering.
